Nadia Boulanger

“The essential conditions of everything you do must be choice, love, passion.”

“Nothing is better than music.... It has done more for us than we have the right to hope for.”

“Life is denied by lack of attention, whether it be to cleaning windows or trying to write a masterpiece.”

“I've been a woman for a little over 50 years and have gotten over my initial astonishment. As for conducting an orchestra, that's a job where I don't think sex plays much part.”

“Loving a child doesn't mean giving in to all his whims; to love him is to bring out the best in him, to teach him to love what is difficult.”